Brian Snitker Sounds Off on Braves Blowing 6-Run Lead vs. Diamondbacks

The Atlanta Braves appeared to be cruising to a victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon. Instead, they became the first MLB team in the past three seasons to blow a six-run lead in the ninth inning.

It was the first time the Braves lost after holding a six-run lead in the ninth inning since July 17, 1973. Before Thursday, Atlanta had won 766 consecutive games when leading by at least six runs in the ninth.

Braves manager Brian Snitker didn't hide his disappointment while talking to reporters after the loss, which completed a Diamondbacks sweep of the Braves in Atlanta.

“It’s a horrible loss," Snitker said. "Now we’ve got to sit on it for five hours on the airplane, and we’re all going to be miserable. And we should.

"We didn’t execute. We didn’t put the game away. We’ve got to do that.”

Snitker was referring to the flight to San Francisco the Braves will have Thursday evening.

"I guarantee you there's going to be a whole plane full of guys sick to their stomach, and we all should be," said the manager.

The Diamondbacks hit two home runs and earned a pair of walks versus right-hander Scott Blewett to begin the ninth. That forced Snitker to use closer Raisel Iglesias in a game that should have been well in hand.

The bleeding, though, didn't stop when the Braves closer entered. Iglesias gave up three more runs. Not only was the lead gone, the Braves trailed in the bottom of the ninth.

The Atlanta offense scored 10 runs for the first time since May 18 on Thursday. But they needed 11.

The Diamondbacks held on to beat the Braves 11-10.

"When you’re up six runs in the ninth, you feel like you should win the game, obviously," Snitker said. "But we didn’t. You’ve got to do your job. We’ve got to play better.

"Really, really hard loss."

The Braves have suffered 11 defeats in their past 14 games to fall to seven games below the .500 mark. Since beginning the 2025 regular season 0-7, the Braves have now played an even 27-27.

Snitker's reaction to the shocking loss Thursday was a more vocal one than he normally provides. But the Braves manager hasn't lost faith in his group and hopes to see the club's veteran leadership help them through this difficult stretch.

"We're a good team. We're not a bad team. We're a good team that's playing bad right now. We can't execute. We can't finish a game, and we've got to do better," Snitker said. "I've got to do better. The coaches got to do better. The players gotta do better quite honestly, and we've have a group that can do that.

"That can rally the thing and get this thing turned around because I've seen it before. I've seen this group do it and we will."